For the icing

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Tip

Baking with courgettes

Courgettes can hold quite a lot of water, which can affect the finished texture of your cake. If your grated courgettes seem watery, place them into a clean cloth and wring out some of the liquid into a bowl. Then add the courgettes to the cake mixture as normal. The timing for cakes containing courgette can depend on the water content of your courgettes, so return the cake to the oven for another 10 mins if it needs it. Simply test with a skewer and make sure it comes out clean.

Method

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa
powder, mixed spice and 1 tsp salt. In
another bowl, combine the olive oil,
sugar, eggs, vanilla essence and grated
courgette. Mix the dry and wet mixture
until just combined, then fold in the
toasted hazelnuts. Line a 24cm cake
tin with greaseproof paper, then pour in
your mixture. Bake for about 40-50 mins,
or until a knife inserted into the middle
comes out clean. Cool in the tin for
10 mins, then turn out onto a wire
rack and leave to cool.

To make the icing, place the chocolate
in a bowl and bring cream to the boil in
a saucepan. Pour the hot cream over
the chocolate and stir until completely
smooth and melted. Leave the icing to
cool slightly and thicken, then spread
it over the cake so it’s covered and
the icing starts to drip down the sides.
Serve with a cup of tea or enjoy as a pud
with a spoonful of something creamy.

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Comments, questions and tips

Comments

Delicious cake! Followed the recipe exactly and found it needed 55 minutes in the oven. Brought it into work, where it served more than 12. Pleased to see it's freezable pre-topping too. I've made chocolate and courgette cake before, but much preferred this as the toasted hazelnuts gave it a better taste and less claggy texture.

Loved by everyone! Even hubby who does not like courgettes! I had a square one and then after gazing at it all night hubby said to turn into a round and the corners would be breakfast cake! His theory being its vegetables so its one of his five a day!! So even before its been iced at least half had gone! Success . mine was cooked at exactly 46 mins but as I said I used a 23cms square tin so probably wasn't as deep as a round one would have been! Lovely as well without icing and a bit of cream!

I was a bit unsure about this as I've had courgette cake before that I didn't particularly like, but after reading the positive comments I thought I'd give it a go. I used less sugar and less oil than in the recipe, as well as omitting the salt and adding a bit of cinnamon, but the end result was wonderful. Next time I think I might try it with a different nut, although I must admit I liked the hazelnuts.

Wow! This the first time I have made a cake with courgettes and I certainly picked the right recipe to use. I made a few alterations....used x2 loaf tins to bake them in.....reduced sugar to 275g (still plenty sweet enough for me!). It was made with one giant courgette so I peeled and removed seeds as instructed and they have turned out just perfect. Lovely and moist with a great taste of chocolate and mixed spice. Def recommend this recipe and will certainly make again.

Worst cake I have ever made in 40yrs of baking. Should have trusted my judgement & not put the mixed spice or salt in as could taste both & not nice with chocolate. I will stick to my tried & tested choc cake recipe in future & use courgettes for chutney etc.

Amazingly for me my cake looked just like the photo!
Really tasty, son had no idea courgettes were involved until I broke the news. My cake took about 20 min longer to cook, but well worth the wait. Lovely served as a dessert with black currants and cream or ice cream. A large moist cake too so you could get at least 12-15 portions. I reduced the sugar to 325g following another comment, works fine!

I was so disappointed with this recipe the sponge was very dry & much too deep I suppose it may help if you cooked it in 2 sandwich tins & used the ganache in the centre & then covered the whole cake in the ganache as well

I was disappointed too ,found it dry and I cut it in half and put the ganache in the centre and the top because I thought the cake was too deep. My husband who loves all things sweet hardly touched it and preferred another recipe I use which isn't as deep and is nice and moist so will be using that recipe in future.

brilliant recipe. Went down really well with my new landlord and his partner and was a great way to use up an overgrown courgette which was struggling to find a home. cake came out wonderfully moist even when I was worried I had overcooked it. I think the mixed spice helped intensify the chocolate-e-ness and the hazelnuts added a nice texture - good good good :)

This was a really good recipe, followed it almost to the letter and it came out perfectly. It rose brilliantly in a deep tin, however it needed longer than stated in the oven- about 60 mins did the trick. I also reduced the amount of sugar after reading other comments to 325g, still a perfectly sweet cake but not to sweet. I couldn't taste any courgette, and fooled a courgette hater in the process!

Lovely recipe went down well at work. I worried I had over squeezed the courgettes because the mixture was quite dry but it worked a treat. Everyone commented how nice it was and even those that went errr were soon converted. Will make one to freeze now.

This is probably my favourite cake I've ever made! It's really moist and my kids had no idea it had courgettes in. I've made 4 now (!) and each time it has took a bit longer to cook than the recipe says and I've also slightly adjusted a few things... The first cake was made to the exact recipe and was fab, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th was made with only 250g of sugar as 375g seemed a little excessive and it tasted just as great. The 3rd time I put just a slightly bit more than 500ml courgette (maybe 600ml) but it took considerably longer to cook so stick to 500ml and finally the most recent one I didn't quite have enough cocoa powder so only used 40g and again it was just as good so quite a versatile cake and adjustable. I have 2 in the oven now, with the intension of freezing 1 to see how it turns out. Enjoy!

Made this with courgettes from my garden. I'm not sure if its because they were so fresh but they didn't give off much moisture so I've had the opposite problem of some and had a dry cake. The spice was nice but I used less sugar after reading comments but for me, it needs all the sugar. Not the recipes fault for the issues so still 4 stars, will try again but add the sugar and milk or orange juice if the mix looks too dry. Chocolate chips would also have improved it weigh some texture.

Oh just to add to my previous comment.. I actually made this cake in two shallow tins, rather than one deep one.. So it had a chocolate icing filling, and topping.. Which went down very well.. "Enjoy" :-)

I've made this cake this week. And I must say, I'm thoroughly impressed. It's delicious.. And is a very helpful way to use up some of the courgettes, which can be abundant little devils!! I find the cake to be not to sweet and the texture is not to heavy, and pleasantly moist. It's a winner in my book. And the way it's vanishing quickly from my cake box is all the proof I need..!! Give it a go, it's very Moorish!

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